Withdrawl

Our cable and internet went down on Friday and I'm finally back online. What a sad thing that  72 hrs without them were so difficult. Just me and Lump hanging at home.  We did go visit Mandy and her cute family, so it wasn't all awful. I should find a hobby or read more. Baby Lump and I had a photo shoot the other day.  He would only smile once I moved the camera away from his face. I did manage to get a few good pictures. 

 Lump at two months old!

Go for the Gold

The olympics have kept me occupied at night for the past week. I have always enjoyed watching the games and learning about the athletes. (My new favorite is Cullen Jones.  Not only is he a cutie, he also started a great program for inner-city kids. He's the second from the left. )  Swimming is my favorite to watch. Michael Phelps is an amazing athlete.  Having said that, I wish the reporters at NBC would realize that there is a whole team that have worked just as hard as Mr. Phelps and they also have proud parents!  I hope he gets his eighth medal tonight, mainly because I don't want to hear about what a "failure" he is for just getting seven gold medals and one silver.  

The men's gymnastic team (that picture is hilarious to me.) did a terrific job too, especially for not being considered medal contenders after the Hamm twins were injured. The joy they had at placing third was wonderful. Especially in comparison to what happened the following night with the women's team, which was also plagued with injuries.  A silver medal is nothing to be ashamed of! I wanted to hurt the reporter interviewing the team after the competition. I applaud Alicia for not breaking down in tears with those questions. Those girls have worked hard and sacrificed quite a bit (their bodies and social lives) to compete at this level.  

Trampoline is a sport....who knew?

Track and field started and I've now found where all the Black people were hiding. I've decided to grow my hair out naturally so this is a good time to study hair and scout out a new do! I'll write more about my hair in another post. Here's a preview from the latest experiment.

Huff and Puff and Stuff

So, I was sitting in church yesterday and our congregation never ceases to amaze me. I decided to w take notes on things that I observed during the last twenty minutes of sacrament meeting. Baby Lump and Trine were pacing the halls.

1. One speaker stated that if we teach our children to serve than they will become more "inwardly focused"...Interesting, I thought the goal of service was to help others, not to become selfish. It must have been a mistake, but I was amused.
2. A teenager in the front row licked his whole arm; from his shoulder to his fingertips in one motion...I wonder how that tasted considering he was picking stuff off the floor just prior to this long taste test.
3. The hymns are meant to be sung loudly, even if you don't know the words. Apparently, if you don't know the words the word "something" can be used for every word you forgot.
4. The crying baby chorus starts up at about 15 minutes to the hour, and continues until the meeting lets out (15 minutes late).
5. Long, boring talks consists of lots of reading, no looking up, and no dialog to relate to anyone.
6. How come the Bishopric always looks bored? Just a question.
7. I had an epiphany about a little girl in the ward, she always kind of gave me the creeps. I figured out why...She looks like Mr. Jingles from Stephen King's It.
8. The second speaker said, "If we keep the commandments we will become a power house of energy." Power house huh?...Someone must really be into the Olympic Spirit. I am too, we are trying to decide what to push Baby Lump into so we can bask in his olympic glory. Bob Costa has taught us that this glory is only achieved through gold medals...silver is just not that good. 
9. You know in the hymn book, each song says how to sing it (i.e., with power, cheerfully, or energetically). Well, in our ward to sing cheerfully means to sound like a funeral march.
10. Why is it that baby girls have to have HUGE bows/flowers on their heads? They look like extra appendages. They look like girls if they have on a dress...Unless, of course, the parents are starting cross-dressing at a very young age, and if that's the case I have never seen a drag queen with a Huge flower headband.
11. If you need a hymn book, it is easier to reach across the pew ahead of you and take it. Don't mind the people sitting in the pew...No joke this really happened to my pew. I did not quite know how to react to the lady taking my hymn book.
12. During the closing prayer, all the babies in the audience start "cooing" about the same time. This cooing sounds a lot like speaking in tongues. 

Blessings, Buddies, and a Book Review

This post is going to be pretty disjointed, so bare with me.

Today we blessed Asher.  It was a pretty low-key event, which is what we wanted. The best part, other than the blessing, was that Ash didn't cry and saved spitting up until we got his bib back in place!  His buddy Reed was also blessed today. Last week we tried to have a photos shoot of the two boys and here was the best I could do.  

I would also like say thanks for everyone who left a comment about baby gas. All of your ideas were sooo helpful!  I think we've got a system now that keeps it pretty under control and gives us a happier baby.  Here's the latest picture of our little clan.

Yesterday I read the last installment of the Twilight series. I know that a lot of people really like this series. For me, I just needed to have closure. Kind of like how I've read the dragon books, (Eragon and Eldest) I really dislike them, but I'll read the third one just to see how it finishes. Breaking Dawn was a fine book, if a little predictable.  Perhaps I've just need to enjoy reading or watching movies as they go along instead of trying to work out the endings way before they happen. The Young Women in my ward love this series because of the romance.  I found the romance in this edition a little mature for the YA crowd. Anyone who reads this is free to disagree with me. 

I'm not really uptight about sexuality or anything, I was just a little caught off guard with where the story went in that direction. There was nothing explicit but I was left feeling uneasy.  The girls I work with at church and at work already have unrealistic expectations about relationships and I found myself feeling this would just fuel those expectations even further. However, figuring out that life isn't what you've always seen portrayed in the media is a rite of passage.

Below is a picture of the release party we drove by. Aaron thought I was insane, he offered to let me go in and really participate in the madness, but I declined.  There are limits.